Chapter 193: Mutiny
Nina
I woke up the next morning feeling somewhat excited to the dance, which was finally happening that night. After everything that had happened recently, Jessica and Lori were right when they said that I needed to relax a little bit and have some fun. Of course, I could only have so much fun without Enzo, but I knew that he wouldn’t want me to kill myself with exhaustion, so I decided to take my friends’ advice and just try to enjoy the day.
That morning, I woke up to the sound of the birds singing outside and the sun shining through my window. Even though it was a cold day, it was still bright and sunny, and it made me happy to know that the birds would still sing and that the sun would still rise despite all of the horrors that I had been through. In a way, that simple realization filled me with a renewed sense of strength and hope.
I climbed out of bed and immediately made my way to the shower, feeling relief wash over me as the hot water ran across my skin. I even took extra time to thoroughly wash my hair,
shave, and exfoliate, as though doing all of these things would somehow cleanse away all of the heartache; because today, I needed to just focus on relaxing. If I didn’t do that, then I was certain I would only keep seeing these hallucinations, and I would never manage to find Enzo or recreate the antidote if they didn’t stop.
After my shower, I headed out to the kitchen.
Lori and Jessica were already awake.
“Mm,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. “Smells good. Pancakes?”
Jessica smiled as she flipped a pancake- on the stove. “Someone seems like she’s in a good mood this morning,” she said. Meanwhile, Lori sat slumped at the counter with a cup of coffee in her hand. Her eyes were barely open, but she gave me a smile nonetheless.
“I’m feeling a little better today,” I said, walking over to the coffee pot to pour myself a cup. “Thanks for taking me out yesterday. It really helped.”
“It’s good to get out and do fun things, even when you’re struggling,” Jessica replied. I watched as she put a pancake onto a plate, then handed it to me. Enzo wouldn’t want you to sit here wallowing all of the time.”
Suddenly, Lori chimed in. Her voice was still groggy and deep from tiredness. “That actually reminds me,” she said, pulling out her phone and tapping furiously on the screen. “I did a little research late last night. Look what I found.” She handed me her phone, which I took with a furrowed brow.
Somehow, Lori had managed to find some obscure forum – much like the one that I found K on all those months ago about the supernatural. The particular forum thread that she showed me was a discussion on witches, and there was someone who was claiming to be a witch. When I clicked on the user’s profile, they had a list of services and contact information.
“It could be fake,” Lori said, “but you never know. It might not hurt to give them a call. Maybe they can help in some way.”
I frowned, biting my lip, and handed the phone back to Lori. The thought of meeting another stranger on the internet scared the hell out of me after what happened with K, and I wasn’t sure if I was willing to potentially put myself or my friends in danger again.
But if it would help me find Enzo…
Then maybe it was a good lead.
“Thanks, Lori,” I replied with a smile. ” This could be helpful.”
Lori simply shrugged and returned to her coffee. I sat down at the counter and ate my pancake, chatting with my friends as I did so. When I was finished, I decided that I needed to stretch my legs a little bit and think about the witch so I quickly got dressed in some sweatpants and a jacket, then headed out for a solitary walk.
As I walked, I considered my possibilities. I could try to contact that witch and see what she had to say, assuming she was even a real witch and not just a scam artist. Maybe she could somehow help me find Enzo, or even Luke, and then Luke could help me open a portal if he hadn’t gone to the werewolf realm by himself already.
Or, I could try to talk to Myra again; and I did just that. In the chill of the morning, I made my way over to the cabins.
When I arrived, the camp was in a flurry of activity. They seemed to be packing up.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked Myra as I approached. She was packing some things into a wooden trunk and glanced up at me, then over her shoulder to make sure Lewis wasn’t looking, before she replied in a hushed tone.
“Lewis is moving us,” she said quietly, sounding a little worried. “I’m not sure exactly where.”
I frowned. “What about the campus?” I asked. “The Crescents could come back at any moment.”
Myra shook her head; then, glancing over her shoulder one last time, she grabbed my arm and quickly pulled me around to the back of one of the cabins where we couldn’t be seen.
“Something is seriously wrong here,” she whispered. “I think Lewis is up to something more sinister than just trying to become the new leader of the Fullmoons. He keeps leaving in the middle of the night, and I don’t know where he’s going. There are only a few of us who feel that something is off, and we’re planning on making a run for it.”
My eyes widened. “You don’t think he’s
“I don’t know,” Myra interrupted. “He could be working with the Crescents, for all I know. All I know for sure is that he doesn’t give a flying fuck about Mountainview or any of the other towns.”
“Will you at least stay?” I asked, feeling my heart start to race. “The hockey
team can’t guard the whole town by themselves. We’re trying to start distributing the antidote soon, too.”
Myra was silent. That was all the answer I needed.
“Listen,” she said finally, “I still can’t open portals. I’ve really been trying. I’ve heard of witches who can lay curses on people to keep them from opening portals, which I think is the case here. Someone doesn’t want us traveling to the werewolf realm… And your friend, Luke?”
My eyes widened even further. “Do you know where he is?” I whispered.
“I don’t know exactly,” Myra responded, “but I saw Lewis and a couple of his men roughing some guy up in the woods a few days ago. They were leading him away from the camp with a rope tied around his wrists. He looked a lot like how you described him.”
I gulped. What were they doing to Luke? Why would they even want Luke as a hostage?
Before I could ask these questions, however, someone called Myra’s name. “I have to go,” she said quietly. “I’ll try to keep you updated if I manage to get away. But for now, just promise me that you won’t try to open a portal or anything until Lewis is gone; he’s had his eye on you, and he’ll do anything it takes to stop you next time.”
I didn’t know what to say. If what Myra said was true, then this was all a lot more sinister than I thought. Did Lewis hire a witch to keep Myra from opening portals? Did he take Luke hostage so Luke couldn’t help me find Enzo? Something here was seriously wrong.
